Spirited Away on Halloween
by Charon the Sabercat
Summary: Sally the human is transported to Halloween Town, where she must work at the evil king's mansion until she can find a way to change back. You didn't think there'd be updates but guess what? THERE'S UPDATES!
1. Spirited Away Chapter 1

Spirited Away on Halloween  
  
Based on Spirited Away, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the story I wrote on my old Macintosh before deciding to re-write and post it here.  
  
Disclaimer: This is The Nightmare Before Christmas given new roles as Spirited Away characters! Wait, I can phrase that better. Um... This is an alternate reality story, that's it! And in that alternate reality, the character of TNBC follow the Spirited Away storyline! Yeah! Not really a crossover, but it'll be fun to read anyway! I know, my bad guy is going to look like a lot of other people's bad guys, but hey? Whatcha gonna do? You need a few expendable characters. Away we go, get your popcorn.  
  
Sally drove through the park, lost as to where else to go. She had just gotten back from a business meeting, which had not gone well. Due to her shyness, she couldn't quite fumble out the right words, and their potential buyers had left. She was wrapped in her uncomfortable business suit, which fit her like wrapped cellophane. Her thigh boots weren't much help either. Normally, she would be traveling with her dog, Punchy. But, sadly, Punchy, her only friend and basic family, had died of cancer. While most people might look to their parents for solice, Sally had none, so she took her pain to her old, 1984 Volvo stationwagon and drove it off. Sally's boyfriend, Darris, had left her for another girl, on another note. Said, quote, "He had no more bones to break", unquote, on Sally.  
  
Sally pushed back a lock of hair which had escaped the loose bun she kept her unmanagable hair in 24-7. She drove mindlessly through the nature drive in the park, going purely on instinct. She often drove like that; zen driving, she called it. She only really got lost when she said the fateful words-  
  
"Okay, now where am I?"  
  
Yes, Sally said them. She stopped the car, trying to look out of the window to find a directional sign. These didn't even look like the trees in the park, come to think of it. Instead of being stumpy, leaf filled oak trees, this were barren, tall rising... something trees. Some kind of trees, Sally didn't know. Also, the trees formed a bit of a wall in front of her, allowing for the passage of a person to a few animals, but not a car.  
  
"I didn't know there was an area like this is the park," Sally spoke to herself. She stepped out of the car, and followed the road on foot. She moved herself through the wall of trees, looking even more desperately for a sign. She listened to the grass crinkle under her feet, until it got to a point where there was no grass; only dirt. Also, the trees became less dense, letting more space come between them. Sally would occasionally brush her arms off, checking for ticks or other bugs. Her skin tingled, goosebumps forming on her pale peach skin.  
  
As she passed another tree, she noticed the trees formed themselves into a perfect circle. Large drawings adorned each tree: a heart, a Christmas tree, a Jack-O-Lantern, other things like that.  
  
"Holidays?" Sally scratched her shin. "Why would a grafitti artist make holiday symbols?"  
  
Sally tiptoed to the Jack-O-Lantern, examined it more closely, and realized-  
  
"OH!" she laughed. "It's a door!" Her spirits dropped a little. "Wait, a door? In a tree?"  
  
She jiggled the know, making sure there was nothing funny behind it. She then opneed it, and took a quick look inside. A smell hit her nose weakly, and it made her cough. Smells reminiscent of chocolate, rotting meat, steam, certain spices; it did not make a good mix.  
  
Sally reared out of the hole and coughed, getting the fumes out of her system.  
  
She turned as she heard an engine revving, thinking a park ranger had found her.  
  
CRASH! IT WAS HER CAR!  
  
Sally stared at the dirty stationwagon before her, recognizing it as hers from the custom "REDHAIR" license plate on the front.  
  
"How'd that get there?" Sally yelled at the car.  
  
The engine revved, the headlights flashed on, and the car suddenly burst forward!  
  
Sally held her arms in front of her as the car slammed her into the tree. The wind whipped around her, blowing from the bottom up, as if it was trying to keep her from falling inside. Still, she fell, and she hit the ground with a powerful  
  
BANG!  
  
*  
  
Sally got up slowly, her back still aching. She couldn't quite stand right in her boots, but she tried anyway. When her eyes adjusted, she saw a world she had only seen once, in a nightmare.  
  
The ground was gray and dusty, with no signs of life nearby. Tombstone littered the ground around Sally, closing around her like the gate on a crib. They sky was cloudy, with purple traces abounding. It was twilight.  
  
Sally took a fast look at a tombstone  
  
*Here lies the body of Solomon Peas  
  
Killed by a sniffle, a cough, and a sneeze  
  
Peas isn't here; only the pod  
  
Peas shelled out, went home to God  
  
1945-1984*  
  
"Poor guy," Sally remarked. She stood now, and walked past the tombstones, following her nose. She smelled something good, like steak or turkey, some kind of meat. She stopped when she reached a set of gates. The gates were skinny and pitch black, as was most everything in this place. Above the gates, in loopy letters, was written  
  
HALLOWEEN TOWN  
  
"Halloween... town?" She looked past the gates and into the town. Everything was a certain shade of gray, and nothing was really symetrically. Everything leaned one way or the other. The town was built on a circular plan, that could easily be told. But, just past the town, there was a huge, palatial looking, egg-white mansion with stain glass windows and waving banners.  
  
"It's looks like the castle at Disneyworld," Sally remarked. "Only with a little more color."  
  
She took a fast look behind her, just out of curiousity. More tombstones, and a beautiful mountain, accentuated the horizon.  
  
Sally felt drawn towards the mountain (okay, so it was more of a hill). She speed-walked to the sight, marveling at how it curved into a little spiral at the top.  
  
"Look at that!" Sally whispered to herself. The wind blew through her suit. Sally looked to the sky, to look for rainclouds, and instead saw a stagecoach! Yes, a stagecoach, pulled by skeleton horses, flying through the air at unreasonable speeds!  
  
"Hey! WAIT!" Sally screamed. "CAN YOU GET ME OUT OF HERE!?"  
  
Sally turned as she heard a twig snap. What she saw astounded her.  
  
It was... a something. Maybe a skeleton, but it didn't look quite right. It was long and thin, with a puffed out chest. His head was round, like a bouncy ball. He (Sally guessed it was a he) had huge eye sockets, and a gaping mouth. His hands were huge, with long fingers. She guessed that it your fingers were the size of bananas, you wouldn't need all four of them. Despite the fact that his hands were so big, his feet were tiny. He wore a pinstripe suit with a cat bow tie. The bow of the tie stuck out past his shoulders, and they stretched out a bit like wings.  
  
The skeleton reacted in surprise to seeing Sally.  
  
"Hello?" Sally asked in confusion.  
  
Skeleton's face soon turned to anger. He stomped his way towards Sally. "You shouldn't be here."  
  
"Huh?" Sally cowered under the skeleton, which was a long way taller than her.  
  
"You're not supposed to be here! Go, before it gets dark!" Skeleton pointed over her shoulder, towards a little ditch over which a log had fallen, creating a bridge to a mangled forest of dead trees.  
  
"I don't understand!" Sally scuffled back in fear.  
  
Darkness began to creep across the land. As it passed over the ground, Jack- O-Lanterns arose from the dust and opened their mouths, lighting like candles.  
  
"They're lighting the lanterns," Skeleton mumbled in fear. He turned to Sally, and determinately raised his voice. "Go! You've got to get across to the trees!"  
  
"Which way?"  
  
"THAT WAY!" Skeleton pushed her towards the ditch, where she began running. "HURRY! I'LL KEEP THEM FROM FOLLOWING YOU!"  
  
Sally ran over the log and through the trees, trying to find the tree doors she had fallen through. As she ran, white clouds of smoke floated out of the ground rising into the trees and finally blowing out of the forest. Sally kept running until she slammed into a tree. While she was gathering her senses, she took a closer look at one of the puffs of smoke. It had eyes. And a mouth. And hands.  
  
"That's not smoke," Sally choked.  
  
"Whhho were yoou expect-ing? Richhard Nixxon?"  
  
"IT'S A GHOST!" Sally lost her sense of direction and ran the other way. She tried to avoid other ghost which blocked her path, but she occasionally ran into one.  
  
Finally, she made it back across the ditch. She didn't know exactly where to go, so she blindly ran to the left- And tripped on another tombstone.  
  
"This can't be happening," she moped. "This has to be a nightmare.... Wake up, Sally. Wake up. Go away nightmare. Wake up and disappear."  
  
Sally hoisted herself onto her knees, and hung her head. She took noticed of her hands.  
  
"AAAH!" Sally held her arms up to her face. "I'm a ghost!! I can see through my arms!"  
  
Sally rubbed her shoulders in comfort. "Bad dream! Bad dream! Go away!"  
  
Two hands calmy placed themselves on her shoulders. She gasped as she saw Skeleton again.  
  
"Shhh," he hushed. "Don't be afraid. My name is Jack Skellington. I'm here to help you."  
  
Sally shook her head vigorously. "No, no!"  
  
"Hush, now," Jack reached into his pocket and pulled of a carmel candy. "Eat this. If you don't eat the food here, you'll disappear forever."  
  
"Uh uh!" Sally let her paranoia sink in. "That food's poisoned! You're trying to kill me to turn me into a ghost!"  
  
"No, I'm not," Jack growled. "Now, eat it!"  
  
"NO!" Sally pushed Jack away from her. Or, at least, she would have.  
  
Sally was in shock. Her arms had gone straight through Jack's body, and were sticking out the other side.  
  
"Now do you believe me?" Jack said not-too-kindly. "Now, eat it."  
  
Jack fingered the candy into Sally's mouth. She swallowed it without chewing it. It was a disgusting feeling, and she didn't like caramel to begin with, but she was about ready to wake up.  
  
"There, you see? You're solid now," Jack smiled. He grasped Sally's wrist. "See?"  
  
Sally nodded, looking at her arm and not her savior.  
  
"Now, I need you to come with me," Jack tugged up Sally's arm, signalling her to get up.  
  
"Oka-" Sally grunted as she tried to lift her legs, but to no avail. "My legs! They're frozen!"  
  
"Oh no," Jack complained. He held his hand close to her thigh, scaring the daylights out of her. "By the air and water within her, let her bonds be broken, so that she may walk again."  
  
He gave her leg a quick tap, and he stood up again. "Alright, now get up."  
  
Sally bolted into a standing position. "Um, thank you?"  
  
"Come on!"  
  
*  
  
Jack pushed the gate open, Sally clinging to his arm.  
  
"You have to hold your breath as you walk to the mansion," Jack explained. "If not, the Sentry Spirits will realize you're alive, and they'll come after you."  
  
"What about you?" Sally asked.  
  
"I'm dead," Jack answered. "I don't breathe."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Let's go. Take a deep breath."  
  
Sally breathed in through her nose, filling her lungs until they were about to burst.  
  
"Hold it."  
  
Sally pinched her nose shut. Jack started walking, and they slowly made their way across the town.  
  
About 4/5 of a way through, Sally started to whimper.  
  
"Don't worry," Jack cooed. "We're almost there."  
  
"Mm hmm," Sally mumbled.  
  
As the two approached the mansion, a little boy ran up to them. He wore a red shirt and red pants. His red hair was dolled up in little devil horns. His face even looked devilish. The boy ran to Jack like his life depended on it.  
  
"Jack!" The boy kept coming. "Where have you been? Hirac's furious!"  
  
In saying this, the boy rammed himself into one of Jack's thin legs. The jolt shook Sally, and she accidently coughed.  
  
"Huh?" the boy shuddered. "A human? Alive?"  
  
Jack snapped his arm down onto the boy's forehead, and a ball of darkness encircled him.  
  
"LET'S GO!" Jack jumped into the air and blast along the ground, like he was flying, dragging Sally behind him. He flew until he reach a cellar down, when he finally landed, opened the gate, and pulled Sally inside with him.  
  
A multitude of voices and footsteps rattled above the cellar ceiling, calling out Jack's name, along with some calls of "Master Skellington!" Presently, the two adults were at the very top of the staircase, with miles upon miles of stairs leading down. Sally shivered in fear as Jack covered her protectively. He stroked her hand in comfort.  
  
"Now, I want you to listen to me," Jack instructed. Sally nodded. He held his hand on her forehead, and Sally's normal vision dissappeared, leaving her mind to do the seeing for her.  
  
"Now," Jack spoke with her indirectly. "Follow the stairs down to the cellar, where you will see a group of monsters. Among those monsters, you will find a man they call 'The Mayor'. Talk to him, and ask him for a job. Do you understand?"  
  
"Uh huh." Sally saw the pictures as the words were spoken... she knew exactly where to go.  
  
"Good," Jack withdrew his hand, and Sally regained normal sight. "Now, even if The Mayor says you can't have a job, you must insist. If you don't, our king will turn you into a pig and cook you."  
  
"Your king?" Sally was confused.  
  
"King Hirac, of Halloween Town. He is the owner of the mansion," Jack calmed Sally. "Don't worry, just talk to The Mayor, and you'll be fine. Now, get on your way, Sally."  
  
"Okay, Ja-" Sally's eyes widend, quickly. "How did you know my name?"  
  
"I've known you ever since you were a little girl," Jack calmed her. "Now, get going!"  
  
Jack gave her a hard nudge, so she turned around and looked down the stairs. Sally was starting to get mad.  
  
"Okay, how did you-"  
  
Sally looked to see Jack, but he was gone.  
  
"Know my name?"  
  
Sally gulped and started down the stairs. 


	2. Spirited Away Chapter 2

Spirited Away on Halloween 2  
  
Coming along, isn't it? These new chapters take forever to type! Of course, the movie drags on FOREVER as well.  
  
Sally lugged her way into the cellar through a small door, barely big enough to let her slip through. Inside, a lone man sat at a little desk, pounding a small rock into a bowl, crushing something. The walls were mountains and mountains of shelves, not a single spot of wall in sight. Along the floor, little pieces of coal threw themselves into an oven (or maybe it was a furnace?).  
  
The man himself was very short and stumpy. Also, very triangular. His entire body roundend up to the point on top of his head. His face was facing the wrong way; it seemed cemented into a squinty eyed, smiling mask. He wore a ash gray uniform: tunic with the shoulders and stomach held back by a belt, and baggy pants. It didn't look good on him, though.  
  
As he worked, he mumbled to himself. "Eh... Hirac's obsession obsession of keeping the place clean's gonna kill us one day. Herbal soaks, herbal soaks my-"  
  
"Excuse me?" Sally broke the sullen mood of the place.  
  
"Yeah?" the man turned around, and-  
  
Sally screamed and fell back when she found out that he had another face! This face wasn't happy like the other one; it was a dead gray, with bulging eyes and lips. It held a very angry expression, which made Sally feel queasy.  
  
"I-I-I-I-"  
  
"SPEAK UP, human!" the man went back to his work. "I haven't got all day, you know!"  
  
"Jacktoldmetocomeinhereandask for a job!" Sally took a breath.  
  
"Jack told you to come here?" a twinge of worry stained the man's words.  
  
"Yes, sir," Sally said. "Are you the mayor, by any chance?"  
  
"Yea, I'm the Mayor," the man griped. "Slave to the boiler and servant of King Hirac. But anyway, I can't help you. I have no need for you smelly humans coming in here and messing things up."  
  
"What?" Sally snapped.  
  
"You heard me!" The Mayor growled. "You humans always mess things up. Besides, I have all the helps I need. Look closely at the coal."  
  
Sally kneeled down to the floor to check the coal. At first, nothing was there, but then, little white things started appearing underneath them. The varied in size, ranging from the size of a baseball to the size of a quarter.  
  
"Aw, how cute!" Sally crooned. "Little baby ghosts!"  
  
"Just got a whole swarm in; new abortion clinic opened it Los Angeles," the Mayor said, making Sally feel like she was going to be sick. "So, I don't need you here. Go away!"  
  
"But Jack said I needed to get a job here!" Sally screamed.  
  
"Feh," The Mayor scooped his crushed herbs into a little funnel, and started work on another batch.  
  
Sally sighed and watched the poor baby ghosts for a while. One ghost struggled with his piece of coal until it finally fell on top of him. He struggled to get out from underneath, but no other ghost would help it. Sally felt compelled to help the little baby ghost. She grabbed the coal and tugged on it... and tugged... and pulled. It was heavy!  
  
Finally, she managed to lift it from the floor and into the air. She stood in confusion for a while while the other ghosts rushed past her.  
  
"What do I do with this?" Sally asked.  
  
"Finish what you started, human!"  
  
Sally grudgingly followed The Mayor's orders, inching her way towards the furnace. She could feel that sweltering heat increasing with every step she took. As she made it closer to the furnace, flame started jumping out at her, not quite reaching her skin. She, with one finally breath, threw the chunk of coal into the furnace and hurriedly ran away.  
  
"Very good job," the Mayor noticed. Other little ghosts cheered for her, and she modestly smiled.  
  
"Um... thank you."  
  
"Chow time!" the door Sally had come through opened, and a witch stepped through. The witch was as skinny as a toothpick with a large, oversized nose. Her gray hair was mangled and disheveled. Her gray skin was covered in warts. She wore a much baggier outift, which was held at the shoulder but not the stomach by a belt. It was more of a stormcloud gray. Her legs were thin and frail looking, with tiny feet. In her hand, she held a wooden basket filled with various types of food.  
  
The baby ghosts dropped their coal in a corner and ran to the witch for food. She handed a plate to The Mayor.  
  
"Where is your other plate?" the witch asked.  
  
"Oh," The Mayor started shuffling through the drawers on his desk.  
  
"I keep telling you to leave it out, Mayor."  
  
"Sorry," the Mayor handed his old plate while the witch traded it for his new one. His face turned to the happy side, and he began to eat. "Popsy, there's a human here who wants a job."  
  
"A HUMAN?!" Popsy jumped as Sally timidly waved. "YOU?! People are looking for you! You've caused a whole mess of trouble! Who do you think you are?"  
  
Sally shivered. Why was everyone here so mean?"  
  
The Mayor then surprised both Sally and Popsy. "She's my granddaughter."  
  
"She's your granddaughter?" Popsy asked sarcastically.  
  
"I have a grandfather?" Sally asked in shock.  
  
"Take her to Hirac," the Mayor mumbled through a mouthful of food. "She's got the right stuff."  
  
"No way!" Popsy protested. "I'm not gonna risk my life!"  
  
The Mayor picked something off of his plate and gave it to Popsy. "What if I gave you this tasty roasted newt? Huh? It's good."  
  
"GIMME THAT!" Popsy snatched the newt. "Come with me, human."  
  
"Yes, uh, ma'am." Sally crawled after Popsy.  
  
Popsy scattered the last remained contents of the basket (which were Red Hots) onto the ground, where the baby ghosts ate them immediately.  
  
"Thank the Mayor," Popsy growled. "He's sticking his neck out for you. At least, he would, if he had a neck."  
  
"Thank you, Mayor!" Sally rushed out of the room, stopping to rub her head (she'd hit in on the door frame), and away she went.  
  
"Good luck, human!" the Mayor called after Sally had closed the door. He gulped down another mouthful of food. "Cute. Real cute."  
  
*  
  
Sally was accosted by a swarm of color and smells, and took a second to get adjusted to the change. She gasped in amazement and wonder.  
  
It was a Japanese-style home, with elaborate guardrails and pastel flowers adorning the wallpaper. Sections of the floor were set apart by cubicle walls, and steam rose from some of the "rooms". More monsters bustled about, carrying buckets of water, brooms, food on silver platters, junk like that. Although the type of creature varied (a few werewolves, a lot of vampires, and some kind of giant bat), they all wore the same, tacky, gray uniforms that the Mayor and Popsy wore. The place reached high above their heads, reaching into the sky like a... like a skyscraper.  
  
"Hirac lives on the top floor," Popsy explained. "We're gonna have to take a bunch of elevators, so stay close to me."  
  
"Okay," Sally nodded.  
  
"And don't say 'Okay'!" Popsy snapped. "Say 'Yes, ma'am'."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Sally corrected herself.  
  
Popsy led Sally into an open elevator, pulled a lever on the side of the door, and braced herself as the thing led itself slowly upward. Sally watched the floors inch by the open doorway, holding her face dangerously close to the wall. She counted the floors. "One, two, three, four, fi- seven, eight, nine-"  
  
"You wanna lose your nose?" Popsy cruely laughed.  
  
"NO, MA'AM!" Sally jumped back a few feet. "Um... thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.."  
  
As the elevator slowed to a stop, Popsy froze in her place. A large, fat monster stood in the way of them moving. It was gray, and resembled a potatoe sack. It was a basically a big stuffed star.  
  
"Ah! OogieBoogie!" Popsy gasped.  
  
"I'm goin' up, woman," Oogie Boogie ordered.  
  
"Uh... sorry, sir, but this elevator doesn't go any higher," Popsy giggled nervously. "You'll have to take another one." Popsy grabbed Sally's wrist. "Come on, human."  
  
Sally was rushed out of the elevator and over a bridge. Oogie Boogie followed them faithfully, swinging his hips exaggeratedly.  
  
"He's following us," Sally whispered.  
  
"Shut up," Popsy mumbled through her teeth. "Just don't look at him."  
  
"Why not?" Sally whispered.  
  
"Shut it!" Popsy growled.  
  
Popsy pushed a button by an elevator door, and calmy waited for the arriving elevator. Oogie Boogie swaggered up to the doors, standing directly in front of them.  
  
The doors opened, but not directly into the room.  
  
"Alright, sirs, you're rooms are this way," a femine, young voice explained. A bunch of tall, skinny goblins slithered out of the elevator. Popsy pushed Sally behind her, so they wouldn't see her. Of course, that didn't work very well, because was only half Sally's height, but it worked well enough. Until...  
  
"Hey, Popsy," the little femine voice evily squealed. Oogie Boogie pushed his way into the tiny elevator.  
  
Popsy shoved Sally in alongside him, making her yelp in surprise. She was squeezed into the back, behind the evil star pillow they called the Boogi- Oh, he was the Boogie man!  
  
"Wait is it, Shock?" Popsy snapped at the little girl in a witch's getup.  
  
"That smell," Shock cooed. "That smell... it smells just like a human! Come on, where are you hiding it?!"  
  
"Hiding what?" Popsy maintained her cool. Sally worked her way to the left side of the elevator, where Oogie's bulk didn't squish her into a pancake.  
  
"Come, Popsy!" Shock half-yelled. "You know what I'm talkin' 'bout. You reek of the smell! You've got a human, and it smells tasty! Where is it?"  
  
Popsy pulled the roasted newt out of her pocket. "Is this what you smell?"  
  
Shock gasped in desperation, hungry, and joy. "A roasted... gimme!" Shock lept into the air, reaching childishly for the newt.  
  
"If you wanna go up, pull the level down!" Popsy hollered over Shock's squeals.  
  
Oogie nodded, and Sally frantically swiped for the lever. She reached it, pulled it down, and sighed in relief as the doors slammed shut.  
  
With one huge burst of energy, Popsy shoved the newt into her mouth. Shock wailed in agony as Popsy munched.  
  
Sally stood right next to the Oogie Boogie man, not daring to look at him. She felt overwhelmed... tiny...  
  
The doors inched open, and Sally peered out. She asked herself, "Is this the top floor?"  
  
"Nope," Oogie answered, making Sally jump. She pushed her way back inside the elevator and pulled the lever again. She went back to counting the floors. "55, 56, 57-"  
  
"There are 70 floors," Oogie mumbled, scaring Sally yet again. Did he listen to everything she said?  
  
Sally kept counting until they reached the 69th floor, where Oogie finally got off. Sally kept riding until she reached the top floor.  
  
The hallway was mostly red, with ornate gold and green designs. At the end of the hallway was a set of golden doors with skull knockers. Sally tiptoed to the door, reaching out to the handle...  
  
"Aren't you even going to knock!?" The door screamed! Sally cringed back. "You have got to be the rudest woman I've ever seen!"  
  
"What?" Sally yelped.  
  
The doors opened. Behind them was another set of golden doors, and they opened. And again, and again, and again.... 15 sets of doors, and more Sally couldn't see.  
  
"Come in," a male voice called.  
  
"Um...." Sally hesistated, stepping back.  
  
"I said, 'Come In'."  
  
Sally felt like the front part of her suit had been grabbed, and she was suddenly pulled over by a force unseen. She burst past the first fifteen doors, took a sharp turn, and fell into a seperate room. It was a large office, decorated with the same ornate designs as the hallway. Large paintings and jewels hung on the walls as artwork. A fireplace took the place of the wall to Sally's left.  
  
"Koit."  
  
Sally look up to see a little hand, like Thing from the Addams family, standing in front of her. Three little hands, actually, with little eyes resting between the knuckles.  
  
"Koit," the first hand spoke.  
  
"Koit."  
  
"Koit koit."  
  
"AH!" Sally jumped into a standing position.  
  
"Hmmhmmhmmhmmhmm. How cute."  
  
Sally looked to her right to see a... something sitting behind a desk. The figure had a wooden body with a jack-o-lantern head, a face neatly carved into the front. He wrote on a scrap a paper, keeping his eyes off of Sally. "Well, well, a little human," he spoke. "What do you need?"  
  
"Are.... are you King Hirac? Sir?"  
  
"Yes, I am." Hirac opened a eye and looked at the young human standing and the end of his office. "Hmmhmmhmm, you're shivering. How brave you are. Hmmmhmm. What do you need?"  
  
"Um... I need a job, sir."  
  
"I'm ssorry, little girl," Hirac lisped very slightly. In fact, it was more of a hiss. "I have no openingss. Pleasse find work ssomewhere elsse."  
  
"Sir, I need a job here!" Sally hollered.  
  
"Be quiet!" Hirac yelled back. He looked up, showing his rather frightening mouth and shifty eyes. He even had a little candle in his mouth that lighted his head. "I told you, I have no openingss! Now go, you're disstracting me from my work!"  
  
Sally swallowed her pride and gathered her courage. "PLEASE, CAN'T YOU GIVE ME A JOB?!"  
  
"DON'T SSTART THAT AGAIN!" the scarecrow stood up.  
  
"PLEASE, I JUST WANNA WORK!"  
  
Paper started flying off of the desk, and the light inside of his jack-o- lantern noggin started burning brighter. "DOOOON'T SSSAAAAAAAAY THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"  
  
Hirac jumped from behind his desk, flying towards Sally. He landed in front of her, pratically boasting the fact that A( he was at least 4 feet taller than her, and B( he had three legs: two where they should be and one in the middle.  
  
"Why in the WORLD do you think I sshould give you job?!" he screamed directly into her face, spitting fire past her cheeks. "Anyone can ssee you're a LAZY" (he jabbed her in the stomach with one of his huge fingers) "SPOILED" (jab) "CRYBABY" (jab jab) "And you have no mannerss!"  
  
"I have manners!" Sally whimpered back.  
  
"QUIET!" Hirac yelled. He slowly wormed his way behind Sally, speaking as he moved. "Thiss iss MY manssion we're talking about here! I don't need any humanss musssing it up! Now, leave! I have all the lazy bumss I need-" Hirac's eyes opened wide. He placed his hand on Sally's shoulder, and walked this hand up her neck until he was pratically choking her. "Or... I could give you my hardesst job, and work you until you breathe your very lasst breaaath."  
  
BOOM!  
  
There was a deafening bang that ensued from a nearby source. Hirac looked up from Sally's quivering shoulder.  
  
"AAAAAIEEE-AAE-AAA!" a shrieking noise came from a neighboring room. A large, reptilian, black foot smashed through a wall. "AAAA-AAAE-YAAA! WAAAA!"  
  
"Oh no! You woke up Dinny!" Hirac rushed into the room through the hole the foot had created. "Daddy'ss here, Dinny! Be a good baby!" Hirac peered out of the door. "Why are you sstill here!? I told you to leave!"  
  
"Please, I just want a job!" Sally ordered.  
  
"Fine, fine! Just be quiet! You're sscaring the baby!" Hirac grunted as the foot slammed into his head.  
  
"AAEEII-AA!"  
  
"Okay, okay, Daddy'ss here! Hussh now," Hirac ran into the room next door.  
  
A piece of paper and a quill pen floated to Sally. She grabbed them dutifully. A few large print words caught here eye.  
  
PLEASE SIGN NAME HERE  
  
Sally placed the paper on the stone floor around the hearth and began writing her name. It was just Sally; because her parents were unknown, she had no last name.  
  
"Are you done yet?" Hirac growled. He had just stepped out of the room, and had begun rearranging some things that had fallen over from "Dinny's" impact. The paper simply flew out from under Sally's quill and into Hirac's hands. "So, you're name is Ssally. How pretty."  
  
He waved his hand over the paper, and Sally's name was replaced by a different name, in Hirac's handwriting. "Well, you're name belongss to me, now. From now on, your name iss Kerry. Do you undersstand, Kerry?"  
  
"Whaddayamean, my name is Kerry?" Sally yelled.  
  
"You called, sir?"  
  
Sally nearly burst in delight as Jack stepped into the office.  
  
"Jack, thiss girl hass been ssigned under contract. Pleasse sset her up in a ssuitable department," Hirac cooly commanded.  
  
"Yes sir," Jack turned to Sally. "And, your name?"  
  
"Sa-"  
  
"Ah ah ah," Hirac waved his finger.  
  
"Oh," Sally remembered. "My name is Kerry. For whatever reason."  
  
"Alright, Kerry. Come with me." Jack turned around, expecting Sally to follow. She trotted out of the room, following him with a resolve.  
  
*  
  
Sally happily stood beside Jack, relieved that the worst part was over.  
  
"Hey, Jack?" Sally went to ask a question.  
  
"Don't talk to me," Jack commanded. "And address me as Master Skellington from now on."  
  
Sally turned away. Hurt. And confused.  
  
DONE! 


	3. Spirited Away Chapter 3

Spirited Away on Halloween 3!  
  
I LOVE PAOLO CONTE!  
  
"We don't care if Hirac gets mad at us!" The tiny girl is a witch's hat, Shock, cackled.  
  
"She can't join our department!" The boy beside her, Barrel, wore a skeleton suit. The monsters that surrounded the two foremen laughed and chuckled, making Sally blush. Jack stood solemnly at the foremen's desk on the bottom floor of the mansion.  
  
"She's already under contract," Jack coldly stated. A wave of gasps, shaking heads, and "How did she do that?"s ran through the crowd.  
  
"I promise I'll work really hard!" Sally spoke with a shakey voice.  
  
"We're not taking her in our department!" a female werewolf spoke with a haughty voice.  
  
A gargoyle in the back yelled. "Us either! She'll stink up the whole place!"  
  
"Three days of eating our food, and her smell will go away," Jack voiced to the crowd. "She'll work hard, and if she doesn't, roast her."  
  
Sally was shocked to hear the words coming out of Jack's mouth. "Boil her, do whatever you want. Popsy!"  
  
"What?!" Popsy appeared from out of a doorway. "Don't dump her on me!"  
  
"You said you want an assistant," Jack argued, no emotion pentrating his face.  
  
"That's perfect!" Shock screamed.  
  
"Yeah! Leave 'er with Popsy!" Barrel said with glee.  
  
"You can't!" Popsy fought back.  
  
"Then it's settled," Jack patted Sally on the back, pushing her to Popsy. "Go with her."  
  
"Um... yes sir!" Sally tripped along behind Popsy, confused, hungry, and a little dizzy.  
  
"By the way, Jack, have you seen Lock?" Barrel asked. Shock shook her head vigorously as the monster crowd dispersed.  
  
"Yeah! We were gonna watch 'Tales from the Morgue' on The Learning Channel!"  
  
"Have you checked Town?" Jack slowly walked off, snickering to himself.  
  
**  
  
"WOW! You did it, girl!" Popsy hugged Sally's waist as soon as they were out of the monster's sight (which was a little hallway with Japanese paper doors and poor lighting, placed somewhere between the foyer and the nearest elevator). "Speaking of which, what is your name now?'  
  
"Kerry," Sally spoke without thinking.  
  
"Kerry. Nice. Anyway, I don't believe a dope like you could get into Hirac's office and get a contract! Wow, was I wrong!"  
  
"'A dope like' me?" Sally grunted, putting her hands on her almost non- existent hips.  
  
"Don't worry about that," Popsy held up her hands and shook them back and forth. "Let's just get upstairs and get your uniform before someone sees that horrible get-up you're in."  
  
"I like this suit!" Sally lied as Popsy pulled her away by her wrists.  
  
**  
  
"Upstairs" was a large room where, apparently, all of the witches in the mansion slept. Some were pretty, some looked more like Popsy. But all were asleep, tucked into fluffy cotton sleeping bags.  
  
"Alright," Popsy talked to herself, pulling open a sliding closet door. "Let's see..."  
  
Sally helded out her arms, and Popsy plopped her new clothes into them.  
  
"Those're your pants. This is your apron, gotta wash it yourself..."  
  
Sally tucked her pants under her arm and held the apron around her waist. It wasn't very big-  
  
"NO! It's not that kind of apron!" Popsy took it out of Sally hands and tied one end around her neck and the other around her neck. "It's like a backless shirt. You wear it like this."  
  
"Oh..." Sally was taken aback a little. She undid it and placed it messily inside her pant's pocket. "Hey, Popsy, do you know Jack?"  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"He doesn't have a twin, does he?"  
  
"A twin? HA! I can barely stand one of 'im! Okay, an overshirt... an overshirt..." Popsy pulled out one shirt and held it up to Sally. "Too small. What about this one... no. This one might- Is something wrong, Kerry?"  
  
Sally sat down, her head feeling light. "I feel dizzy."  
  
"Oh, poor thing," Popsy comforted as she bent down to stroke Sally's back. A small with with green skin poked her head out of her sleeping bag.  
  
"(Yawn!) I'm sleepy- What's the noise, Popsy?"  
  
"It's the new girl, Sarah. She doesn't feel good."  
  
Sally whimpered as her stomach tied itself in knots.  
  
** Jack, Oogie Boogie, the Hands, and a small ghost dog watched Hirac as he marched to the window of his office, grabbed a long, black cloak off of a hanger.  
  
"Zero," Hirac spoke. The ghost dog hovered to his master's head, barking happily and smiling. Hirac draped the cloak over his shoulders, and tucked in the edges, so that it magically melded to his body. He held out his hands (which had become wings), gave one last bow to his minions, and flew out of the window.  
  
As Oogie Boogie went back to his room, Jack made his way to a different location.  
  
**  
  
Kerry shook in her sleeping bag, a mixture of cold air and fear taking her over. She missed the home she left... no monsters, hardly any work.... no monsters... her own car! Yeah, that's a good thing to miss!  
  
Kerry froze as a bony hand placed itself on her hair. "Meet me tonight in Town Square." Jack's voice!  
  
Sally smiled as his hand brushed her forehead, calming her down.  
  
**  
  
Kerry tiptoed through the Cellar, trying not to wake the Mayor. As she passed by the furnace, the Baby Ghosts appeared, and-  
  
"You got my boots!" Kerry pulled on her footwear. "Thank you."  
  
The baby ghosts made happy noise and disappeared, leaving Kerry to run back outside.  
  
Kerry sneaked into town, wearing her new, gray uniform. She watched the fountain, wondering where the water came from. The water was eerily pretty; a ocean-ish shade of green. The monster could have been some crazy, Stephen King horror... monster... thingy.  
  
"Kerry?"  
  
"Jack!" Kerry ran to Jack, who was standing on a building's stairway.  
  
"I needed to give you these," Jack whispered, handing Kerry her old clothes.  
  
"I thought these were thrown away!" Kerry hugged the old suit tightly; it still smelled like her old car (a mix of smelly dogs and cheap air fresheners).  
  
"You'll need them to get home," Jack nodded his head. She took a look at the tag.  
  
"Property of Sally... Wait, Sally's my name, isn't it?"  
  
Jack nodded again.  
  
"Ohmy- I can't believe I forgot my own name!"  
  
"That's how Hirac controls you," Jack mumbled. "By stealing your name. If you completely forget it, you'll never get back home."  
  
"Does that mean you can't remember your name?" Sally cried.  
  
"No, I can't...." Jack smiled. "But, for some reason, I remember yours." Jack reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a biscuit. "Here, eat this. I saw you were having stomach problems, and I saved you this."  
  
"Thank you," Sally was extremely grateful. As she ate, she started to cry.... for no reason whatsoever. Maybe she was happy; she wasn't very depressed; she just cried.  
  
And Jack comforted her.  
  
**  
  
The Mayor stretched from his forced sleep; his desk did not make a good bed. As he rubbed his angry eyes, his sight focused on a tiny figure...  
  
It was Sally, sleeping curled up into a little ball. On the cold floor. Using her clothes as a pillow. The Baby Ghosts hung around her feet, guarding her boots and Sally herself. The Mayor smiled, switching to his happy face. He waddle to Sally, giving her his blanket.  
  
"Night, deary," The Mayor whispered, kissing her forehead. "Paw Paw loves you."  
  
How sweet! DONE! 


	4. Spirited Away Chapter 4

Spirited Away on Halloween 4  
  
Okay, let's go.  
  
"Where were you last night, Kerry?" Popsy scolded, stuffing sleeping bags into the closet. Sally handed her another one.  
  
"I'm really sorry," Sally apologized, feeling very inadequate.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Popsy sighed. "We've got a lot of work to do. It should help you sleep tonight."  
  
Sally's first job was cleaning the floor in a large, cleared out room. Her partners were 3 banshees, which were much older and better at cleaning than her. As Sally got caught on the hard wood of the floor every few inches, the banshees swept past her like they were on ice.  
  
"Stupid human," one particularly mean banshees whispered to her.  
  
"Kerry!" Lock, the foreman, called. Lock had a bandage wrapped around his head, and he was holding a clipboard directly in front of his face. "You've got another job to do!"  
  
The second job was emptying out buckets of old water out into a lake, out of a 5 story balcony. Sally poured the soapy suds into the water, and took a long look over the churning lake. It was almost pretty; the greenish tint, the way it moved, the little fish that splashed on the water- Something caught her eye. She turned her head to see Oogie Boogie, standing alone outside... on a section of roof.  
  
"Uh... are you okay?" Sally called.  
  
Oogie Boogie remained silent. His steely glare frightened Sally.  
  
"Uh... should I leave the door open for you?"  
  
"KERRY!"  
  
"GAH!" Sally fumbled with one of the buckets, pouring dirty water onto her uniform.  
  
"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Shock laughed. "Okay, I'm alright now. You've got another job!"  
  
"Well, thanks for warning me," Sally mumbled. "I'll leave the door open for you, Oogie." Sally lifted her buckets and walked off.  
  
Sally's third job was helping Popsy clean out Oogie Boogie's bathtub, which was ENORMOUS.  
  
"Hey, Popsy!" a she-bat creature screamed. "Heard you got the Boogie tub!"  
  
"Shut it!" Popsy snapped.  
  
Oogie's tub was covered in mud and slime and bits of dead leaves, and it smelled off rotten meat. The floor was covered in algea from not being cleaned in so long.  
  
"Ugh!" Popsy held her nose. "They haven't cleaned this tub in months! Disgusting. Let's go."  
  
Sally, burdened down with brushes and tubs, quickly slipped on the algea and bang her head on the floor.  
  
"OW!" she screamed, holding her head.  
  
**  
  
"This tub is filthy," Popsy moaned. She and Sally had been scrubbing for an hour now, and the 5-foot deep tub was barely starting to become clean.  
  
"That's it," Popsy gave up, throwing the scrub brush to the floor of the circular pit. "It needs and herbal soak tag. Sally, go to the foreman and ask for a token."  
  
"Lock, Shock, or Barrel?" Sally asked.  
  
"Whoever's at the front desk!" Popsy explained as she gave Sally a leg up. "Now hurry!"  
  
"Yes, ma'am!" Sally ran down the hall to the front desk.  
  
**  
  
"Why should I give a token to a filthy little non-monster like you?" the pale, wheelchair-bound man spoke cruelly.  
  
"Popsy said it needed one," Sally timidly answered.  
  
"I don't care! Give me a good reason!" A werewolf woman spoke to the man for a second, and he handed her a token. "Here you are, Kira. Have a nice day."  
  
"But, sir!" Sally hollered.  
  
"Doctor! Doctor Finklestien to you, you furless rat! No token-"  
  
"Give her the token, Finklestien."  
  
Sally turned around and- again- there was Oogie Boogie. He didn't look at Sally; he kept his gaze on Finklestien.  
  
"She's cleanin' my bathtub."  
  
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Finklestien squealed, putting on a fake smile. He quickly handed Sally the rectangular token.  
  
"Thank you, Oogie!" Sally hurriedly and happily thanked him before running back to Popsy.  
  
**  
  
"Got one!" Sally threw the token to Popsy.  
  
"And you got a good one, too!" Popsy smiled. "I'm surprised! Okay, now we send this to the Cellar..."  
  
Popsy knocked twice on a section of wall with a pumpkin painted onto it. The pumpkin's mouth opened up, and a little space with a dangling rope showed itself. Popsy tied the token to the rope, gave it a tug, and watched it as it sped upward.  
  
"Okay, now that token goes to The Mayor, he fixes the water, and sends it to us via-"  
  
SHOOOOOOOOOOOM! A huge jet of water shot down from the ceiling and into the tub.  
  
"The water ducts!"  
  
Sally noticed the water was a yellowish color, and she questioned Popsy about it.  
  
"That's the dried worm salts!" Popsy yelled over the gushing liquid. "It looks murky, but trust me, it helps!"  
  
The water stopped flowing, and Sally went to look inside the tub to see if the mud was coming off. Her reflection showed up, but something in the water must've changed it. Her skin was blue.  
  
"How come the worm salts changed your reflection?" Sally asked.  
  
Popsy crawled up next to her. Her reflection stayed the same. "It doesn't."  
  
Sally reacted in minor shock, and look at her hand.  
  
IT REALLY WAS BLUE!  
  
"AH!" Sally jumped back, then stuck her arm in the water and tried to wash off the offensive color. "Why am I purple? Why am I purple?"  
  
"You don't everyone came here as a monster, do you? No, you come as a human and change into a monster. I used to look a little like you, actually..." Popsy sighed. "Oh, how I miss my height."  
  
Sally cried as she took into fact that the color didn't wash off. "Oh no....."  
  
**  
  
It was late, but Sally couldn't sleep. She stood by the dorm room balcony, watching the lake and the sky.... The coach ran by underneath her. She wondered where the coach went. Would it take her home? Or just around the mansion? Maybe... since this was Halloween Town, maybe it would take her to a differnt holiday! Like Christmas- wait, she didn't like Christmas. No one to spend it with. Valentine's? She LOATHED Valentine's. Stupid, manipulating boyfriend always won her over on Valentine's. Thanksgiving? No family, tv didn't get the Macy's parade, and there was hardly ever food. (sigh). She'd had a rough life.  
  
A black figure flew below her, followed by a wispy cloud. Wait, that figure looked familiar...  
  
It flew by again, this time closer. Sally felt the wind from his huge wings. His? How did she know it was a he? There went the clou-  
  
"That's not a cloud," Sally mumbled. Sally squinted to see the flying thing-  
  
"Jack?!" Sally realized that it looked a whole lot like Jack (well, it had his head). "JACK! IS THAT YOU!?"  
  
The flying thing dove into the lake, and the cloud followed him above the water's surface. He flew out of the lake, and right past Sally's window. She got a good look at the cloud, and saw that it was made up of tiny little bats, pure white and completely flat.  
  
Jack manuevered to and fro, his humungous wings beating helplessly. He leaned slightly to one side...  
  
"They've hurt him!" Sally gasped. She took a deep breath. "JACK! IN HERE! THIS WAY!"  
  
With a strong flap, Jack turned around and flew to Sally, zooming past her and smashing through the door to the bedroom. Sally panicked as the bats turned to follow him, and she hurried to shut a backup sliding door that usually stayed open. It stuck just as it was about to close, and the bats began rammed into Sally, sticking to her face and uniform. She screamed and began to swat them off, and they simply tore into pieces... just like....  
  
"Paper," Sally realized as the bats fell off of her body. "They're just paper."  
  
The bats rose into the air and drifted out of the window, lazily gliding back to whereever they came from. Except for one slightly torn one, which attached itself to Sally's calf muscle.  
  
"Jack," she turned around to face him. "Jack, are you okay?"  
  
Jack was not himself.... at all. His body had changed dramatically.  
  
In short, he was a gargoyle. He had winds which were as large as his, a strong, wide chest, and dinosaur-ish feet. A tail grew out of his back, wide at the base and coming to a sharp point at the end. He crawled about on the floor, his face frozen in an evil snarl.  
  
"Don't worry, Jack, the bats are gone now," Sally comforted him. Jack wiggled about uneasily; parts of bone were chipped and starting to fall off. "They won't hurt you."  
  
Jack snarled understanding- and quickly flew out of the doorway. Sally followed him out onto the balcony to watch him. He was flying up the side of the building (he accidentally slammed into the side before catching himself), all the way to the top...  
  
"He's going to see Hirac!" Sally realized. She panicked. "I've gotta get up there before he dies!"  
  
Sally rushed out of the doors and onto the staircase.  
  
DONE FOR NOW! Come back later... 


	5. Spirited Away Chapter 5

Spirited Away Chapter 5  
  
Oo! We're almost done! We're almost done! Okay, let's get started! (Audience: YEAH!)  
  
Sally ran down the stairs, only to be stopped by Popsy grabbing onto her wrist. Sally jerked to a painful stop.  
  
"Where are you going at dinnertime?" she asked.  
  
"I've gotta find Jack!" Sally nearly screamed.  
  
"Not Jack again!" Popsy sighed. "Look, girl, take my advice and stay away from him!"  
  
"I'm not a girl!" Sally uselessly fought. She felt her hand getting wet. "Why's my hand wet?"  
  
"I was on kitchen duty. Had to cut up the pigs and cows, stuff like that."  
  
"EW!" Sally pulled back her bloody hand.  
  
"I'm gonna go get dinner, Kerry," Popsy turned away and trotted down the stairs. "You stay here."  
  
But Sally was gone already. She'd squeezed through a nearby window and had climbed out onto a triangular castle turret. With one wrong step of her foot, she slipped down the edge and nearly fell off of the building. She looked at the roof to see what had caught her before she realized it was herself; she no longer had skin, but a rough cloth with had caught on the metal roof.  
  
"Oh, wonderful!" Sally ran her hand over her arm, feeling the texture of her skin (it was a teensy bit like burlap). "What else is new?" As she rubbed her arm, her hands shrunk to three-thirds their normal size!  
  
"YIPE!" Sally lept to her feet. "It's going faster! I've gotta hurry!" She scrambled over the rooftop to the other side, where she finally saw a ladder... twenty feet away. A long pipe connected one turret to the ladder to Sally's rooftop. She looked down her feet; they were much smaller, as well. Small enough to fit on the pipe. Sally gulped, knowing what she had to do. She spoke to herself as she undid her ribbon belt and worked it around her shoulders.  
  
"Okay, one shoulder... other one... tie a knot- tighten up this pants leg... other one. Okay. I'm ready. (gulp) I hope."  
  
Deep breathe, Sally, and GO!  
  
She ran at full speed over the pipe, feeling a jolt of adrenaline as the long piece of metal snapped behind her. She ran and ran and ran and GOT IT! She clutched the ladder's rungs for dear life at the pipe broke away, falling down to the ground 50 stories below.  
  
"Oh, boy," Sally moaned. She gulped again and started up the ladder. She made almost all the way to the top when she stopped to take a breathe of air. At that moment, the paper bat attached to her leg flew off of her and tapped the back of her head. She darted around, trying to see what hit her. The bat had stuck itself to her hair, but she saw something else; something black, orange, and much more important.  
  
"HIRAC! Oh no! I've gotta hide!" She darted up the ladder. "Does everyone here have to be a gargoyle?"  
  
Hirac flew to the top of his mansion, landing on his window sill. Zero greeted him warmly, the little hands bouncing behind him. Hirac walked into his office and threw his coat behind him, letting Oogie Boogie catch it. He sat down behind his desk, surveying the area.  
  
Luckily, Sally had managed to hide under an overhang, in a windowsill. The stained glass window to her left was shut tight; this she proved by trying to bash it open with her elbow. Repeatedly. The paper bat fell off of her head, slipped under the window, and (unknown to Sally) opened the latch, causing Sally to lurch into the room when she jabbed it next.  
  
"WAH!" She opened to eyes to find herself in a bathroom with one tub, one sink, one toilet; it must've been Hirac's private bathroom. She was getting close. The bat attacked itself back to her leg as she ran out of the doorway.  
  
Hallways, hallways, that's mostly all that the top floors were. Sally was extremely confused and not sure where to go. She was sure she was going in circles, and when she saw an open door, she immediately ran inside.  
  
But it sure wasn't Hirac's office. The floors and the lower parts of the walls were covered in green padding, and the rest of the walls were painted with serene picture of fields, meadows, and blue skies. The floor was littered with stuffed animals, pillows, and wrapped presents which hadn't been opened yet. As Sally walked through, she noticed a large bed, covered in pillows and surrounded by pink curtains (slightly open). Nothing was in the bed, so she kept moving. The paper bat flew off yet again and cupped itself around her ear. Sally detected a slight noise, and she turned to follow it. A set of curtains on the north wall of the circular room hid a staircase which led up to two ornately designed doors; doors to Hirac's office. Sally tapped the doors opened minutely and settled down to listen in on the conversation.  
  
"... to begin with. And you can't get water to your tub, either? What happened? A pipe musst've broken. Very well, I'll make ssure it getss fixed. Yess, goodbye." There was the sound of a phone hanging up. "Oh, Jack'ss breaking into piecess all over the rug; I jusst got that imported from China. Oogie, you go fix the sstupid pipe. Handss, get rid of Jack! He'ss dead anyway."  
  
"B-bu-b-bu-bu-but sir? Shouldn't-shouldn't we try to help Jack?" Oogie's voice? It couldn't be! "I mean- I mean, he's really a nice guy, and all-"  
  
"JUSST DO AS I SSAY!"  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
Footsteps, headed Sally's way. Hirac's footsteps! Sally ran out of the curtains and looked for a place to hide. She was panicking and scared, so she just dove into a pile of pillows, just barely missing Hirac's sight.  
  
Hirac turned his eyes to the pillows and started digging through them. Another tossed aside, and-  
  
There was a little, pointed, black face peeping out from the cushions. Very reptilian; it could have been a dinosaur. It's ears were nothing more than little stubs of flesh that resembled horns. Large, thornish scales jutted out from its neck (think a black Valefor from Final Fantasy X (this is for you, Double F!). It whimpered squeakly, as if it was agitated.  
  
"Oh, I'm ssorry, my little Eeosski, did I walk you up?" Hirac cooed the sleeping figure. "Did Daddy wake you up? Yess he did! Yess, he did! I'm ssorry! I'll jusst put back your pillowss, and you go back to ssleep? Okay? Okay!" Hirac placed a pillow back on Eeoski's head and walked out of the room, turning off the lights as he went.  
  
Sally was just starting to worm her way out of the pillows when Eeoski pulled her back in (Okay, from what I remember, Valefor doesn't have arms. But I've changed his appearence a bit for the story. He doesn't just have wings and legs; he had arms, legs, and wings, Okay? Okay!).  
  
"OW! Lemme go!" Sally yelled. She started directly into Eeoski's face. "AAH! GODZILLA!"  
  
"You came in here to make me sick."  
  
"Huh?" Sally was surprised that it spoke. She was more surprised that he spoke with the voice of a seven year old boy.  
  
"You're a bad germ from outside that's come to make me sick," Eeoski growled.  
  
"I'm not a germ, I'm a human!" Sally had second thoughts about that comment. "Well, I used to be... Just let me go!"  
  
"Why? Stay in here and play with me. You'll get sick outside."  
  
"No you won't!"  
  
"Yes, you will," Eeoski loosened his hold on Sally's arm. "That's why I've never left this room."  
  
"Staying in this room in what'll make you sick!" Sally tugged on her arm again, but Eeoski held tight. "Please, someone very important to me is hurt, really bad! I need to help him! Don't you understand?"  
  
"If you don't play with me, I'll cry," Eeoski snarled. "I'll cry and Daddy'll come in here, and Daddy'll kill you. Now play with me, or I'll break your arm!"  
  
Sally cringed as Eeoski grabbed her with both hands and twisted her arm in two directions. Her arm... crinkled, as if it were stuffed with leaves and twigs. "OW! That hurts!" She got an idea. Without thinking, she jutted out her opposite hand, the one covered in pig's blood. "BLOOD! Do you see that? Blood! It's got germs in it!"  
  
Eeoski stared in shock for a moment, then started shrieking at the top of his lungs! He threw pillows everywhere, knocking Sally into the staircase in the process. She ran into Hirac's office, just in time to see the hands pushing Jack towards a large gutter that had appeared in front of the fireplace!  
  
"JACK!" Sally rushed at the hands, scaring them away. "Get away! Shoo!" Sally clutched Jack's wide shoulders. "Jack, are you okay? Say something!"  
  
"RUFF RUFF!"  
  
"Huh?" Sally turned her head just in time for a napkin-like ghost dog to start attacking her face. "AAH! Get away!"  
  
"Koit koit." The hands tried to push Jack's middle into the gutter. Sally grabbed Jack by the armpits.  
  
"QUIT IT!" Zero swooped down at her head again. "Aaa!"  
  
Stomp. Stomp. Squeeeeee- SNAP!  
  
Zero stopped attacking Sally's head, and the hands stopped pushing Jack. Sally looked around to see that Eeoski had squeezed out of his room, pulled the curtains (along with the curtain rod) off of the ceiling, and was standing right in front of them. Eeoski had a fat body, with stubby arms and legs. Little wings grew out of his back, with a mostly solid base, but the ends of his wings sort of branched out and curled around inwardly.  
  
"I'm not afraid of blood!" Eeoski spoke loudly. "Play with me or I'll cry!"  
  
"NO!" Sally tried to talk him out of it. "Don't cry! Be good!"  
  
"Play with me, or I'll (sniff) start crying!" Eeoski started to wail, giant tears pouring down his cheeks.  
  
"NO NO NO!" Sally yelled above the crying. "Please! Just wait!"  
  
The paper bat hovered in the air above Sally's head. "Shut your mouth, you spoiled brat!"  
  
Eeoski stopped crying immediately. He watched in amazement as the bat flew just inches in front of his eyes. "You're a little butterball, aren't you? Fat pig."  
  
The bat zoomed its way to the floor, and as it fell, the gaseous figure of a woman appeared. She was very skinny, looking anorexic at the least. She wore a long, purple gown which trailed behind her gracefully, held around her stomach by a belt shaped like a bat. Her long, black hair contrasted greatly to her pale skin, and her sharp features left you feeling a bit queasy. Her eyes shot right through Sally and seemed to look straight at Jack. She then looked down at her thin arm. "Hmmm... I guess I'm still a little transparent."  
  
"You're not Daddy!" Eeoski hollered.  
  
"Oh, what a little genius you are," the woman sneered. With one wave of her tiny hand, Eeoski started to shrink and change until he was nothing more than a gecko.  
  
"There, now your body matches your brain. Now, what else can we mess with?"  
  
Zero flew off in a terrible panic, and the hands scattered in 3 directions. With a wave of her hand, the woman turned Zero into a small moth, and with another wave, turned the hands into Eeoski!  
  
Aphrodite chuckled with closed lips, like Hirac did. She turned to Sally. "This is our little secret. You tell anyone about this and I rip your mouth out."  
  
"Who are you?" Sally asked.  
  
The woman floated closer to Sally. Her feet didn't even seem to move. "Aphrodite. I am Hirac's sister. Now let me have that gargoyle. He's stolen my broach, and I want it back."  
  
"Jack wouldn't steal! He's a good person!" Sally tightened her grip on Jack's shoulders.  
  
"Listen to me, child. That gargoyle became my brother's apprentice to steal his magic secrets. Now he's stolen one of mine." Aphrodite bent down so that she was eye level with Sally. "There is a spell on the broach. It was given to me by my mother, and anyone who tries to steal it will die. Now hand him over!"  
  
"NO!" Sally shut her eyes.  
  
BAM!  
  
"Wah!" Sally bounced up into the air. The replacement Eeoski was trying hard to stomp the gecko and moth that were Eeoski and Zero.  
  
"Would you be quiet?" Aphrodite wandered away from Sally and Jack. Gecko and Zero climbed onto Sally's shoulder. "I don't want my brother coming up here."  
  
There was a low growling noise, and Sally felt Jack's wings twitch...  
  
He shot up suddenly, growling and snarling. His wings stretched in front of Sally, blocking her from Aphrodite, and with one mighty snap, Jack split the paper bat (which had lain lifelessly on the floor) with his tail. Aphrodite's image started to seperate.  
  
"Oh, I guess I was careless," were her last words before her vaporous form faded.  
  
Jack's eyes closed, and he started falling backwards, into the drain!  
  
"Jack!" Sally tried in vain to wake him up. "JACK! WE'RE FALLING! AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"  
  
They fell uninhibited through the drain, falling through a dark tunnel down to the ground. Sally felt Zero and Gecko drifting upward, so she grabbed them and stuffed them into her uniform. She winced as Jack's wings snapped around her shoulders.  
  
"Jack! Wake up!" Sally wrapped her arms around Jack's neck. "Please, wake up!"  
  
As she joined her hands together (to form a stronger hold), the enviroment around her changed. She no longer was falling through the abyss (her hair had even stopped flailing above her and had fallen back to her shoulders); she was in her old room in the orphanage. There was an evil laugh, a flash of light- And she was back again.  
  
Large black clouds of smoke rose from the pit below them- wait, they were black ghosts. Sally feared for her life, but Jack chose this moment to wake up. He spread his wings and flew above the ghosts, circling upward until he found an opening in the wall to fly through. Sally had to squish down flat onto Jack's back; the crawlway was very small. Jack went from flying sideways to flying down, going through another pipeway so small that he had to fold his wings underneath him. Falling-falling-falling- they started coming up to a ventilation fan!  
  
"Jack, stop!" Sally pleaded.  
  
SMASH!  
  
Sally crashed down on top of The Mayor! Apparently, the ventilation duct was right above the Cellar. Herbs and grasses flew everywhere, scattering themselves across the rooom. Jack had slammed himself against a wall, attaching himself to the side like a spider.  
  
The Mayor pushed Sally off of him, and she scrambled over to her hurt friend. "JACK? Are you okay?"  
  
"Kerry?" The Mayor coughed. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Jack's being chased by some... banshee woman!" Sally angrily shouted over her shoulder. She turned back to Jack, who had let go of the wall and had fallen to the floor like a snake from a tree. "Jack? Are you alright?"  
  
With one terrific push of his wings, Jack lurched forward, growling and snapping his jaws. He then passed out again, landing in a tangled knot on the floor.  
  
"Is he okay?" Sally couldn't stop crying. "Is he okay? What's wrong with him?"  
  
"Calm down, Kerry," Mayor sighed. "Jack's badly hurt, I can see that. It looks like whatever's hurting him is coming from inside of him."  
  
"Inside of him?" Sally moaned. "Oh dear..."  
  
"Who did you say was after him?" The Mayor asked, extremely confused but starting to get a hold of the situation.  
  
"Some... something named Aphrodite. Said she was Hirac's sister." Sally rubbed the poor gargoyle version of her savior's head.  
  
"Oo, Aphrodite..." The Mayor rubbed the chin of his worried face. "I'm surprised he's not dead already."  
  
"Ennhnnnn," Sally pounded her head in thought. "Whaddo I do? Whaddo I do?" She snapped her fingers. "I know! I can go to Aphrodite and ask for the cure!" Her idea had a hole in it, though. "Oh, but I don't know where it is! It can't get there!"  
  
"You may be able to reach Aphrodite's in time," The Mayor spoke whimsically. "If you use the Coach."  
  
The Mayor shuffled over to his desk. Popsy crawled through the tiny door which Sally had first entered the Mansion through. "What's going on here- Kerry? I've been looking all over for you-" A look down, and "JACK! What's he doing here?"  
  
"He's been hurt really bad!" Kerry cried. "Oh, I can't let him die! Not after all he's done for me!"  
  
The Mayor threw various props out of the desk, including teapots"Where did I put those stupid... dumb herbs. SOMEBODY HELP ME CLEAN UP IN HERE!"  
  
Baby ghosts arose from around Sally's feet. Some moved to the scattered bits of plants that covered the floor, others picked Jack up and tried to move him to a more comfortable position.  
  
"What happened to Jack?" Popsy breathed.  
  
"Here they are," The Mayor pushed a bundle of tickets into Sally's hands. Popsy gasped.  
  
"Tickets? You've got Coach tickets?!" she spoke angrily. "And you didn't tell me?"  
  
"I've been saving these for forty years," The Mayor spoke whimsically yet again. "Use them wisely. Aphrodite lives in Swampy Gulch, so ask the Coach to take you there. It's a one way trip nowadays; you'll have to find your own way back."  
  
"Okay," Sally breathed. "Popsy, please take care of Jack."  
  
"Okay, Kerry." Popsy was immensily jealous of Kerry, but said nothing. She had the spirit to escape; she couldn't quite place why. Something was very odd about Kerry lately.  
  
Sally turned to Jack and gave his forehead one last pat. "I'll be back soon, Jack. Don't die, alright?"  
  
"What's going on with Kerry?" Popsy whispered into the Mayor's ear.  
  
"Something you wouldn't recognize. It's called love." The Mayor ushered Sally up the Cellar stairs. "Hurry, before anyone realizes you're missing. Go to Moonlight Hill."  
  
"The big spirally hill?" Sally asked while climbing.  
  
"That one!" The Mayor shouted. "Happy trails!"  
  
The baby ghosts chittered their goodbyes, and Sally finally stepped out of view.  
  
*  
  
Sally held Gecko and Zero in her hand, waiting atop Moonlight Hill for the Coach. It thundered up to her, stopping slowly in midair. Four skeleton horses stared blankly at her.  
  
"Uh, I'm headed to Swampy Gulch," Sally handed one of the horses her bundle of tickets. It was a long, arcade-ish ribbon of four white papers. The horses swallowed the tickets one by one, but stopped on the last ticket. It looked over Sally's shoulder, and she did as well...  
  
"OOGIE BOOGIE!" Sally nearly fell off of the very narrow hill. Oogie stood on the wider part of the hill, having trouble keeping his tremendous girth on the hill. "What do you want?"  
  
"Well, uh..." Oogie was twiddling his "hands" nervously, and his face had a worried look; quite unlike him. "Well, uh... Jack's kinda... kinda my friend... and I don't want 'im to die again... Can I come?"  
  
"Um... Sure!" Sally felt very forgiving that moment. "I have another ticket." Sally spoke to the horses. "He's with me."  
  
The skeleton horse swallowed the last ticket and opened the Stagecoach door, letting Sally and company step inside.  
  
DONE! Man, that was a hard chapter to write! 


	6. Spirited Away Chapter 6

Spirited Away on Halloween 6  
  
We're on the road to Aphrodite's house.... not much happened during this part of the movie, so it's mostly thoughts and things. Soon, this story will sway from the original Movie Storyline, so expect a new (and surprise... I think...) ending.  
  
Sally watched with disinterest as Zero and Gecko marveled as the scenery flew by the coach windows. Oogie Boogie happily hummed a bouncy tune, every now and then singing "I am the Shadow on the Moon at Night, Filling your Dreams to the Brim with Fright" and starting over. The slow rumble of the horses' hooves and the rickety coach wheels eventually drowned themselves out. It was a very long ride... and Sally started to think...  
  
Why was she in such a hurry to go back to her world? It wasn't as if it was better than it was here in the Halloween World. Yes, in the living world, there was no oppressive tyrant who kept people as slaves and stole their names to control them. Or was there? Hmm. At least, here, Sally had friends.  
  
There was Popsy. Motherish. In her own way. She was calm and reassuring when she had to be, which wasn't all that often. She was funny if you took her words the right way. She was more of a big sister, actually, than a mom. Or an aunt. Or a really close babysitter which could have been a big sister or an aunt. The comparissons Sally made in her head made her laugh, which earned an odd look from Oogie before she was ignored again.  
  
The Mayor. Now, there was a nice man. He said he was her grandfather... was he? Did that mean that her parents were somewhere in here too? The Mayor did have that elderly warmth to him. And he gave her the coach tickets; something he could have used to escape. That was the kind of sacrifice grandparents gave for their grandchildren. A tear ran down Sally's cheek, catching on her newly forming stitches.  
  
Sally glanced out of the window, and quickly jumped out of her seat to take a closer look. IT WAS THEM! THE HOLIDAY TREES! This was it! She could stop the coach, get out, and head back to her own world! She could forget about Hirac, and the Mansion, and Oogie Boogie, and Jack-  
  
And Jack.  
  
Jack was still lying down in the Cellar, cursed with a spell that was slowly killing him. Sally sat back down. She couldn't abandon him. Not after all he had done for her. Helping her into the mansion, giving her her clothes back (oh, they're still in the Mansion! D'oh!), doing that... tail... thing that got rid of Aphrodite's bat thingie. Jack was just too nice to leave back there. She couldn't abandon him. Not now. Not ever.  
  
Gecko and Zero made their way into Sally's lap, where they quickly fell asleep.  
  
Sally wondered about what she saw when she and Jack were falling through the gutters of the mansion. The orphanage room... evil laugh.... who was that laughing? It was nobody she knew. At least, nobody she knew back then.  
  
***  
  
"Jack...."  
  
Blackness.  
  
"Jack...."  
  
Kerry's voice... I must follow it...  
  
"Jack...."  
  
Shadows. A far away light...  
  
Jack slowly opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings. He was in the Cellar... there was The Mayor... Popsy had been here... he could smell her.... along with....  
  
"Kerry?" Jack struggled to stand up, pushing with his arms and his wings. The Mayor was asleep at his desk, so Jack crawled to his side and nudged him awake. "Mayor, wake up."  
  
"Huh?" The Mayor stared at Jack with his worried face. "Jack, you're okay!"  
  
"Where's Kerry?" Jack demanded. "Did she go somewhere? Can you tell me what happened?"  
  
"Calm down!" The Mayor pushed Jack's shoulders back so that he would let up. "You blacked out. Don't you remember?"  
  
"I remember darkness," Jack looked to the side. "I remember the darkness ingulfing me... and then I heard Kerry's voice calling out to me. So, I followed it and woke up here feeling better than ever."  
  
"Pure love; it broke her spell," The Mayor spoke to himself. "Poor dear, now she's going to Aphrodite's for nothing."  
  
"Aphrodite?" Jack asked with fear in his voice.  
  
"Yes, she went to Aphrodite's to get the antidote," The Mayor explained. "She did it to save you."  
  
Jack slowly rose to his feet, which were wobbly and unstable. "I need to talk to Hirac."  
  
***  
  
"Sstupid manssion sspiritss, can't fix anything; pipess breaking, roof'ss leaking, and now my two head henchmen are GONE!" Hirac complained to Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who were the few cronies he had left. "I jusst know that human girl had ssomething to do with it. I JUSST KNOW IT!"  
  
Hirac's head flame was scorching his pumpkin head, flaring outside of his mouth. Eeoski sat to the side, eating fancy chocolates by the bushel full. The Boogie Boys (and girl) kneeled on the floor, confused as to what put Hirac in a bad mood so quickly.  
  
"Um..." Barrel raised his index finger.  
  
"That doesn't seem like a very... um... what's the word?" Shock struggled to remember. "It's on the tip of my tongue, start's with an.... L..."  
  
"Logical?" Lock asked.  
  
"LOGICAL! Doesn't seem like a logical answer, sir!"  
  
"YOU BE QUIET, YOU LITTLE SSWAMP RATSS!" Hirac hissed. "Only reasson you're in here iss becausse you know Oogie better than anyone elsse. Where could he have gone?"  
  
"Um..." Barrel scratched his head.  
  
"We donno," Shock shrugged.  
  
"Maybe if we look around the buffet?" Lock suggested.  
  
"No need."  
  
"Jack?" Hirac was surprised to see Jack (much less, Gargoyle Jack) in his office. At all.  
  
"JACK! THANK GOODNESS!" Shock yelled happily.  
  
"Have you seen Oogie?" Lock begged. "PLEASE, tell us you've seen Oogie!"  
  
"In time, in time." Jack pushed Lock behind him with his tail. "Right now, I need to talk with Hirac. Privately."  
  
The kids ran outside without hesistation. Jack stared solemnly at Hirac, who smiled eerily. "Jack, how nice of you to come back. I wass worried."  
  
"You seem very calm for the situation you're in, Hirac," Jack monotoned, swishing his tail behind him.  
  
"Don't get fressh with me, young man!" Hirac snarled. "What makess you think you've got the right to sspeak like that?"  
  
"You don't seem to have noticed that something precious to you has been replaced."  
  
"Replaced, hmm?" Hirac hissed. He surveyed his desk, opening boxs and chests and looking under scraps of paper. Jack just shook his head and cast a weary look at Eeoski. Hirac took a look as well, then gasped. He waved his hand while mumbling something in Celtic, and Eeoski quickly changed back into the three little hands. They looked at eachother in shock and ran out of the door.  
  
"Ee........e...........Eeosski!" Hirac squealed, holding his pumpkin head. "EEOSSKI!"  
  
Hirac literally flew into Eeoski's room, throwing aside pillow, toys, and blankets looking for him. "Eeosski! Eeosski, darling! Where are you!? Come to Daddy!"  
  
Hirac's head snapped around to see Jack stumbling into the room. A burning realization came over him. "You......... Where Iss HEEEEEEEEE?????????!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Hirac burst into flames, zooming over to Jack until he was half-an-inch away from his face. Fire spewed out of his mouth, licking Jack's skull. "WHAAAAT DID YOU DO WITH MY BAAAABY!?"  
  
"He's with your sister."  
  
"Aphrodite?" Hirac's fire doused itself quickly, making Hirac looked old, drained, and scorched. He took a few steps backward and sat down on a pillow pile. He sighed. "Alright, Jack, I undersstand. You'll get Eeosski back for me, but at a price. What'ss the offer?"  
  
"Tear up Kerry's contract and send her back into the human world."  
  
"Alright!" Hirac gave up. "On one condition. You find her and bring her directly back to me, do you undersstand?"  
  
"Yes, sir," Jack nodded.  
  
***  
  
"Is this Swamp Gulch?" Sally asked Oogie, tripping out of the Coach.  
  
"Uh huh," Oogie rubbed his head. "I think. Looks swampy."  
  
It, indeed, looked Swampy. Cypress and willow trees hung over the murky waters, offering shelter to passing fish, birds, toads, and Lagoon Monsters. Sally saw one splash by her feet, offering only a glimpse of its tail fin before returning to the water. A single thatched hut stood in a small clearing, billowing smoke coming out of its chimney. A soft, yellow light pulled Sally towards it.  
  
"This is Aphrodite's house?" Sally asked in wonder. She couldn't believe it wasn't a mansion or something more like Hirac's.  
  
"Uh.... I think so. Looks house-ish."  
  
Sally shook her head at Oogie Boogie's stupidity and knocked on the door. Zero and Gecko shivered inside of her uniform pocket. "Hello? Miss Aphrodite?"  
  
The door opened slowly, and Aphrodite stepped out. She was wearing not her purple with the bat belt. She was wearing a leather daycoat over a pink slipdress. Her hair had been pulled back, and she had on a small pair of golden glasses shaped like sideways teardrops. Aphrodite blinked when she saw Sally, then smiled politely.  
  
"Kerry! How are you? I was just settling down for dinner, I hope you don't mind."  
  
Both Sally and Oogie were a bit surprised by her warm greeting. Sally spoke first. "I hope you don't mind, ma'am, but I came to apologize for Jack and ask for the antidote to that curse."  
  
Aphrodite blinked again, but kept smiling. "Was he alive when you left?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Sally rubbed her hands together. "Barely."  
  
"Then he will be fine," Aphrodite smiled. "You look like you've come such a long way. Why don't you come inside for dinner? I'm cooking a rice roast, and I'll have some rice and mashed potatoes for the gravy."  
  
"I like rice and gravy," Oogie raised his hand.  
  
"Then come inside," Aphrodite led them through the heavy oaken door. "And please, call me Davina; I like my middle name so much better."  
  
*  
  
Aphrodite/Davina's house was very reminicent of pictures of grandmother's cabins in fairy tales. Little knickknacks and paintings of meadows and forests covered the walls. A roaring fireplace occupied the north wall, and a black cauldron occupied the fireplace. The place smelled of roast beef and cypress wood, which may or may not have been a pleasant aroma; depended on who was smelling it. One small table sat in the middle of the one-room house, and a bed covered by a gingham quilt was pushed out of the way into a southern corner of the hut.  
  
Gecko and Zero chomped away at their roast, forgetting to chew and promising a stomache ache later. Oogie slowly munched down his rice, but Sally couldn't eat; she was explaining her situation to Davina.  
  
"So, you're name is Sally? It's a beautiful name; it means 'princess'," Davina chuckled in between bights of roast. "And your new name...?"  
  
"Is Kerry." Sally pushed back a lock of hair.  
  
"Kerry..." Davina looked pensive. "Kerry was the name of a doll Hirac used to play with. The name means 'dark princess'. What a coincidence..."  
  
"Why's it a coincidence?" Sally asked.  
  
"I just find it strange that not only did he give you his doll's name, but you also look like her." Aphrodite ate some roast and swallow it slowly. "It's uncanny. He valued it so much, he held it at an almost sacred value."  
  
"I look like his doll?" Sally examined her stitches. "I do look like a doll!" she realized loudly.  
  
"Ow! Not in my ear, woman!" Oogie murmured.  
  
"Sorry!"  
  
"I'm sorry I gave you that little scare at Hirac's place," Davina patted Sally's shoulder. "I always get so tense at my brother's. I never liked him."  
  
Sally was surprised, once again. "You don't get along? I thought brothers and sisters always got alon-"  
  
"HA!" Davina laughed. "You're an only child, aren't you?"  
  
"As far as I know," Sally remember her lost connection to the Mayor.  
  
"No, no, no!" Davina laughed again. "Me and Hirac are sorcerer siblings; we were trouble from the minute we saw eachother. We hated eachother; still do."  
  
"Oh." Sally curled into a little ball on her chair. "Davina? What happened to Hirac's doll?"  
  
"He lost it," Oogie answered for Davina.  
  
"That's right, Oogie," Davina took a sip of water and continued. "The King of Halloween Town before him sent him to slay an unpunished murderer, and he got lost and decided to kill someone else. The king had to go back and stop him. When he got back to Town, his doll was gone."  
  
"He took it with him?" Sally asked, the grip on her wrists cutting off the blood supply to her hands.  
  
Aphrodite jumped upright, as if she just realized something. "I guess he did. I thought it just a coincidence that he lost it after that mission. He must've taken it with him. My idiot brother, he was too old to be carrying around some stupid doll..."  
  
Sally thought back to her recently surfaced memory. Her room in the orphanage, and the evil laughter... Hirac's evil laughter. She also heard someone yelling at him to stop... who was it?  
  
"Who was the King before Hirac?" Oogie asked for Sally.  
  
"I'm....... not sure I can remember," Aphrodite adjusted her glasses. "No one can. That's why it's been so easy for Hirac to keep his Kingly posistion without someone opposing him."  
  
The windows suddenly started to shake and rattle, and thatch started to fly off of the roof. Sally and Oogie huddled together, screaming in terror, but Davina just smiled again. "More visitors! How wonderful! Sally, could you be a dear and get the door?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am." It was a habit now, saying "Yes, ma'am." Sally opened the door just a bit, to make sure it was no one dangerous was outside.  
  
"JACK!" Sally screamed happily. Gargoyle Jack stood a ways behind the door, closer to the Coach that the hut. Sally ran to him, hugging him like he had come back from the dead (which he basically did). "JACK! You're okay! You're not dead!"  
  
"JACK!" Oogie scooped up the both of them, ruining the moment. "JACK! YOU'RE OKAY, BUDDY! I thought I wasn't gonna have a roommate no more, but you're back, and I have a roommate again!"  
  
"That's nice, Oogie," Jack hoarsely squeezed into the conversation.  
  
"Jack Skellington," Davina smoothly bid him good day. "Just who I wanted to see." She walked up to the three monsters and gently pushed Jack out of the fray. With one flashy movement of her hand, a golden beetle broach and a marble-sized jelly ball shot out of Jack's chest nd into Aphrodite's hands. "Good. Now, I'm willing to forgive you for stealing my broach, but only if you watch over Sally very carefully. Is that clear?"  
  
Jack nodded, stretching his wings discreetly.  
  
"Very good, boy," Aphrodite laughed. Her handed him the jelly ball. "Now, this belongs to you... you should be off now-"  
  
Aphrodite/Davina stopped as a little gecko bumped into her ankle. In all the commotion, they had been left inside the house.  
  
"Oh no! I forgot! Aphrodite, can you change these two back to normal?" Sally asked, still being held tightly in the air by Oogie Boogie.  
  
"Their spell wore off ages ago," she laughed. "Change back if you want to."  
  
Zero changed back into a dog, but Eeoski stayed a gecko. Which gave Aphrodite an idea. "Oogie, there might be a problem with you getting back home."  
  
"Why?" he asked stupidly.  
  
"Let me help you a bit," she chuckled.  
  
**  
  
Sally rode shakily on Jack's back as he flew towards the Mansion. Zero followed faithfully, holding Gecko in his mouth and a miniturized Oogie Boogie on his neck.  
  
"This is embarrasing," Oogie scowled, keeping an almost painful grip on Zero's ears. "Riding on the back of a dog- Oo! Look! I can see my old house from here!" He pointed to a long treehouse down on the ground. "HI, HOUSE! YA MISS ME?"  
  
A low groaning noise emminated from within the tree, as if the house was answering him.  
  
Memories flooded Sally's head again. Her dark room in the orphanage, Hirac's laughter, and.... and... a voice. A stop, yelling at him to stop, the sounds of a struggle and Sally's valiant run out of the room and onto the street. Sally ran the memory over and over inside of her head until she knew who the voice was.  
  
"Hey, Jack," she whispered into Jack's ear, making sure no one was listening (Oogie was still yelling at his house.) "Listen, this happened when I was really young; like, six or seven or eight, or something, so my memory's a little foggy.  
  
"Listening," Jack whispered back.  
  
"When I was still living at the orphanage, someone I think might have been Hirac tried to attack me. It didn't work; someone stopped him. Before I ran back to the Head Lady's office, I heard whoever was trying to stop him..."  
  
"And?" Jack was eager to hear the rest of the story.  
  
"It was you," Sally whispered with confidence. "In fact, now that I think about it; Jack, you were the King! You were the King of Halloween Town before Hirac!"  
  
Jack put on the brakes, his wings fluttering forward and his body going upright. Pieces of him began to break of, revealing a bright, shining light beneath his bones. (Fangirls are screaming right now "OH NO! JACK'S DYING! AGAIN!" Don't worry, he's not. You'll see.) The light blinded Sally and Zero, which caused them to flail about frightened until they started to fall.  
  
When vision finally came back to Sally, she realized she was skydiving down into the sky, Jack holding on tightly to her hands.  
  
"SALLY, YOU DID IT!" Jack cheered. "I remember now; I was the King of Halloween Town before Hirac!"  
  
"It WAS you that saved me all those years ago!" said Sally, tears streaming onto her skin and up into the air.  
  
"I remember it all now! I remember your little room at the orphanage, and I remember having to go and get Hirac before he killed you!"  
  
"Oh, Jack, how could I ever thank you?"  
  
"You're the Mayor's granddaughter!" he laughed. "What else could I do?"  
  
With a powerful sweeping motion, Jack pulled himself back into gargoyle form and carried Sally back to the Mansion, Oogie Boogie following closely behind on Zero, screaming demands of "Tell me what just happened!" and "You get back here and explain!"  
  
I'm gonna go astray from the original plot line here, so I'll stop at this chapter. Fangirls are now split half-and-half, one half going "Oh, how sweet! Jack saved Sally's life and he loves her!" and the other half is going "DROP HER, JACK! YOU BELONG TO ME!" Oy... I hate Fangirls. 


	7. Spirited Away Chapter 7

Spirited Away Chapter... wait, I forgot, let me check.  
  
(Audience sits around. Idle chit-chat floats in the atmosphere. Someone starts throwing M&Ms and it hits someone in the head. The smell of popcorn wafts into the air.)  
  
OKAY!  
  
(People jump, spilling nachos and cola.)  
  
It's chapter 7, and the last chapter of all! I'm hoping to do a sequel! Who wants a sequel?  
  
(There is an excited murmur, and people start asking themselves and their friends if they want a sequel or not.)  
  
Oo, controversy! I'll leave you to decide with this last chapter! Not related to the movie whatsoever! Well, a teensy eensy bit. But the ending's completely different!  
  
**  
  
"Where are they?!" Hirac growled to the Boogie Boys, who bowed cowardly on the floor. "They sshould have been here minutess ago!"  
  
"If you don't mind us askin', Sir King Hirac person Sir; why is it so important?"  
  
Hirac shot a look at Shock, his face equally threatening and calm. "Do you know Eeosski, Sshock?"  
  
"I know 'im!" Lock raised his hand, forgetting all fear. "Yeah! I had to get him medicine that time he got bitten by the werewolf!"  
  
"Oo, yeah, I remember that!" Barrel laughed.  
  
Shock responded by making a hole with his fist with her right hand and stuffing her other hand into the hole, twiggling her fingers as if reaching for something. "Hey, remember the time when Oogie Boogie had to have us reach in his mouth to pull out the-"  
  
"SSILENCE!" Hirac shouted, smashing the children's happy banter to pieces. "You don't think I actually care about that overgrown iguana, do you? Eeosski iss the assset to my immortality! Without a chossen being to be kind to, my immortality sspell will break, and I will DIE!"  
  
"Ooh," Shock realized. "It's like not being able to get into Jack's hope chest without his key!"  
  
"His skeleton key!" Lock laughed.  
  
"Bad joke! Bad joke!" Barrel sirened.  
  
"QUIET!" Hirac shrieked, scaring the children once again. He turned once again to the window. "Where are they?"  
  
"Wonder who gave him the immortality spell," Lock mumbled to Shock.  
  
"I don' know. Maybe it was the king before him," Shock shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"It wassn't a 'who'," Hirac started to explain. "It wass a 'what'. A magical artifact called a Powerssphere which I obtained from another world. Without it, my immortality sspell weakenss. And without Eeosski, it disssappearss ENTIRELY!"  
  
"He's like a bad movie villain!" Barrel whispered naively.  
  
"SSHUT UP!" Hirac roared, flames shooting out and brushing Barrel's delicate face. "Sshut up, you little sswamp ratss. Sspeaking of sswamp ratss, where are the other oness?"  
  
"Us, sir?"  
  
Hirac swiveled to see Jack fly into the room, a solemn expression on his face. Sally stood behind him, admiring the stitching that had formed over her clothlike skin. Zero floated just below Jack's hand, waiting to be petted. Oogie Boogie and Eeoski sat on his back, although Hirac didn't notice this right away.  
  
"Finally!" Hirac stormed, stomping up to the shorter-than-him Jack. "My patience iss trying, Jack! Where iss Eeosski?!"  
  
With one fluid motion, Zero dropped Oogie and Gecko onto the ground, where they quickly regained their full and appropriate forms. Eeoski looked less- than-happy to see his "Daddy", scowling childishly and failing to feign interest.  
  
"Eeosski!" Hirac held his baby. "Eeosski, little preciouss! Daddy'ss misssed you!"  
  
"Why?" Eeoski growled. "I'm just an asset."  
  
Hirac flinched for a second before ushering Eeoski into his room, urging Oogie Boogie and Zero to follow. As they walked through the hallway, Hirac shut the wall behind them, making the opening dissappear.  
  
"Now," Hirac hissed, knocking on the wall to make sure it was solid. He regained his smooth, businesslike manner. This was easily how he persuaded the Halloween Town citizens that he was their true king, no doubt. "Onto bussinesss. You brought Kerry, as I pressume?"  
  
Jack hesistated for a moment, then pulled back his wing, revealing a trembling Sally. Hirac leered her eerily, making her shuffle behind Jack again.  
  
"Now, deary, don't be sshy," Hirac coaxed his way around Jack (who was trying to keep himself between Hirac and Sally) and held Sally's hand in his long, wooden claws. "There'ss nothing to worry about. I'm jusst going to give you a little tesst to make ssure you are ready to go back to your world."  
  
"That wasn't part of the agreement!" Jack almost shouted, snapping his tail down on Hirac's middle foot.  
  
The Evil King just grinned, making teeth pop out of his pumpkin mouth as if they were being carved as he smiled. "It wassn't a sspoken part of the agreement, Jack. Now, Kerry, if you will come with me?"  
  
"I-I-I think I'd rather stay here," Sally tried to sound brave.  
  
"Too bad."  
  
And before anyone could comprehend what happened, Hirac and Sally had disappeared, leaving Jack alone in Hirac's office, head spinning violently and calling out Sally's name.  
  
*  
  
Sally, herself, was coughing as a thick cloud of smoke enveloped her. As the smoke cleared, she saw she was in no ordinary room.  
  
It was a ballroom. A ballroom, like she had seen in a hotel before, with marble walls and smooth floors made of some unknown material. Large windows, framed by thick, lacy curtains (Wait... is "Thick and Lacy" an oxymoron? Hmm.... guess you can have oxymorons in the Nightmare world) dominated the walls, which were a light peach in color. A magnificent centerpiece added a little life to the enormous ballroom, starting at the floor and stretching up to the high ceiling. The centerpiece resembled a pearl-ordaned stalagmite, swirling like a ice cream cone to a dull point at the top. Sally hugged herself in fear only to realize she was no longer in her uniform; instead, she was in (say it with me) a patchwork dress. (sighes as everyone mumbles something different).  
  
"What the-?" Sally patted her hips, trying to find something that would clue her in to the sudden wardrobe change. She saw that her feet were no longer bare; tiny black shoes, complete with black and white stripey socks, covered her tiny toes now. Fit tightly enough; the shoes were so ill- fitting, for a moment Sally thought she had no toes from being unable to move them.  
  
"How do you feel, my ssweet?"  
  
"Wah!" Sally seemed to notice that people around her liked sneaking up on eachother. "Hirac? Where are we?"  
  
"We're in my real manssion," Hirac hissed, still leering Sally evilly. "You don't think I lived in that vile place with all of my servants, do you?"  
  
"What-what happened? Why am I in this dress, I look like a-" Sally gasped. "I look like YOUR rag doll!"  
  
"Intelligent little girl, aren't you?" Hirac sultrily crooned, stepping closer and closer to Sally. Sally, feeling overbeared upon, backed up as he moved forward. "Yess, ever since I losst my firsst Kerry doll, I wanted a replacement. You fit the desscription perfectly."  
  
"That's why I turned into a doll-" Sally whispered to herself before shouting into Hirac's face. "I'M A STUPID DOLL! I'M FULL OF STITCHES AND DEAD LEAVES! HOW COULD YOU FIND THAT APPEALING?!"  
  
"Well, you're getting braver," Hirac mumbled over his shoulder. "Humanss have a different perception of beauty than we monsterss do. To the human race, you're a walking child'ss toy, but to me... you're a vixen..." Hirac stretched out his claws, reaching towards Sally.  
  
"To you, I'm still a doll, you stinkin' pervert!" And with that, Sally slammed her fist down on top of Hirac's pumpkin head. He snatched her hand and pulled her to his face.  
  
"YOU ARE TO SSTAY WITH ME!"  
  
"LET ME GO!" Sally tugged away at her arm until she heard something pop. There was a zipper-like noise, and she fell back onto the floor. When she opened her eyes, she realized that while most of her body was on the floor, she had left her arm back in Hirac's fist.  
  
"AAAAA!" Sally shuffled backwards, clutching the leaf-filled stump that was previously her left arm. Hirac threw the arm behind him and lunged at Sally, but a large, bony foot got in his way.  
  
"JACK!"  
  
(Fangirls are going "YEEEAAAH! Jack came to rescue her, just like in the movie!" Teeheehee, I love these fangirl jokes!)  
  
Jack stood in between the two, still in Gargoyle form, and still looking extremely angry. His breathing was heavy, fangs slipping in and out between his lips.  
  
"This wasn't part of the agreement either, Hirac," Jack spoke with a mocking tone, his voice unusually loud.  
  
"WHO CARESS ABOUT A SSTUPID AGREEMENT!?" Hirac roared jumping to his feet and shouting. "Now, get back to the manssion!"  
  
With a mighty snarl, Jack lunged at Hirac, teeth bared and ready to tear into his body. Hirac dogded in smoothly, leaping majestically out of the way. With one wave of his hand, the mansion went dark, the curtains flying shut. All light except for one was gone; and that was the light of Hirac's Jack-O-Lantern head.  
  
"Manssion sspiritss, get Kerry out of the way!"  
  
Sally felt millions of tiny hands grab her body and throw into a wall. A slam and a click made her realize she was being locked in a cage. She groped blindly for a wall, her eyes straining to see something other than Hirac's dayglow head. "JACK! GET ME OUT OF HERE! KILL HIM!"  
  
Jack swiped blindly into the darkness, trying to find out just how far away Hirac was and how many things were in his way. Five times, he tripped over some chair, or a knotch in the floor, or got his wing stuck on a coat rack, something slowed him down and kept him from his one, primary goal.  
  
THE KING MUST DIE.  
  
Sally watched hopelessly as Hirac's head bounced up and down, stomach tight with worry. She couldn't see Jack. Where was he? Did he hit Hirac yet? The snap of a whip-tail and a shriek announced that Jack had succesfully struck Hirac... somewhere. However, in an equal moment of shock, there was a loud crunch and a horrifying yell.  
  
"JACK!" Sally's tears burst forward suddenly, running down her cheeks in torrents. "STOP IT! Stop it, Hirac, leave him alone!!"  
  
AND SUDDENLY, THE LIGHTS CAME ON!  
  
Hirac stood bold upright, leaving a broken-winged Jack on the floor. His head turned violently, trying to find what happened. Curtains were open, torches were lit, Oogie Boogie had his hand on a lightswitch.  
  
Wait.  
  
"OOGIE?!" Hirac howled. Oogie Boogie just stood on the far side of the room, his hand (well, he ain't got no hands (Kingdom Hearts joke) placed tenderly on the lightswitch. Hi laughed weakly, mouthed hello to Jack, and bolted out of the room. Sally took note of where her cage was; it was inside the centerpiece.  
  
"OOGIE YOU IDIOT!" Hirac screamed to the world. "That sstupid potatoe ssack hass no idea where hiss loyaltiess li- OOW!"  
  
In the time it took for Hirac to ramble on, Jack had woken up and landed a stinging blow on the back of Hirac's neck. Hirac's head flame flickered out for a split second, then raged into an inferno again; Hirac swiped his hand behind him and clutched Jack by the throat. He tried to weasel his way out of the king's grip, but to no avail. Jack was having trouble breathing at this point.  
  
"You inssolent little brat!" Hirac shook him violently. "You have been one of my mosst obidient sservantss for eonss now, and you think you can defy me now jusst becausse of some measely little ssubhuman! Well, you little anarchisst..."  
  
Hirac raised his clawed hand, ready to crush Jack's skull.  
  
"Thiss iss what I think of your little rebellion!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
Hirac turned his head quickly to face Sally. She sobbed pitifully inside of the cage.  
  
"Don't hurt him!" she cried pitifully. "I give up; just... don't hurt him."  
  
"That'ss much better." Hirac growled. He threw Jack to the ground, leaving the gargoyle to stare at Sally in disbelief. Hirac stepped forward as Sally's cage opened and the mansion spirits pushed her out. She stood in the doorway, muscles tense.  
  
Hirac picked up his pace quickly, and was soon galloping towards Sally. She stood very still, breathing shallow and quick-  
  
SHE JUMPED OUT OF HIRAC'S WAY!  
  
Yes, just at the last minute, Sally rolled out of the way of the raging scarecrow, causing Hirac to crash into the cage, slamming the door behind him!  
  
There were a few minutes of silence before Sally stumbled to Jack, picking up her arm on the way. Jack was resting dispondently on his knees, dead to the world. Sally reached over and stroked his forehead, alerting him to her presence. Okay, well, maybe not alerting, but he did wake up.  
  
"Sally?" Jack slowly picked up his head, coming face to face with Sally. She smiled and nodded, her eyes starting to string with withheld tears. "Oh my go- SALLY!"  
  
The two were soon locked in a tight embrace, crying and whispering joyfully to eachother. It took a few minutes to realize What they were doing, however, and as soon as they found out...  
  
"WAH!"  
  
"AH!"  
  
Jack rubbed the back of his head while Sally concentrated on the patterns of her dress. They both spoke at once, overlapping eachother's pleads for forgiveness.  
  
"Sorry, sorry, didn't realize.... Won't happen again... sorry..."  
  
"I'm sorry... no, I'm sorry, it's my fault... it- it was a very emotional moment..."  
  
"ZAR!"  
  
Jack just managed to pull Sally out of the way as Hirac lunged at their throats. The Evil King turned back to them, crouched low to the ground like an animal. His head fire was back up again, although there was something uncontroled about the flame this time.  
  
"What are you doing back?!" Jack shouted, pushing Sally behind him.  
  
"The hand iss... quicker than the eye.... Jack Ssskellington." Hirac's voice was airy and malificent, and he was breathing deeply. He reached into his mouth and pulled out a little jelly ball. "Much quicker." He popped the thing back into his mouth.  
  
"The PowerSphere!" Jack whispered. "Sally, go hide!"  
  
"OKAY!" Sally ran away quickly while Jack kept Hirac from running after her. She flung herself behind a curtain and considered herself lucky. Her arm was still held tightly in her hand, moving it's fingers on it's own. Sally peeked from behind the curtains to see Hirac shooting fire out of his mouth, searing the sleeve of Jack's coat and part of his wing.  
  
Sally got another crazy idea, and ran out from behind the curtain. Before Hirac or Jack had a chance to react, she had hit the Evil King square in the back of his head, knocking out the PowerSphere. As Hirac turned to kill her, she stuffed her arm into his mouth.  
  
The result was astounding. Her arms held tightly onto his stem, keeping him from pulling the thing out. Hirac clawed at his throat, attempting to cut open an airway. His body writhered and twisted itself until he finally fell to the floor, completely and FINALLY dead.  
  
Sally's arm crawled out of his mouth, looking burn but not burnt. It gave Sally a thumbs-up before reach upwards to be picked up.  
  
"Ha ha ha!" Sally chirped lightly, a sort of unbelieving uphoria swimming in her head. "What... what just happened?"  
  
"He's dead, Sally," Jack gasped. "We killed him."  
  
"Is that a good thing?" Sally asked.  
  
Jackds. More than likely, it's a good thing," Jack picked up the Powersphere while he talked. He held the sphere up to Sally's shoulder- stump, and her arm floated to it and resowed itself to her body.  
  
"Now," Jack sighed happily, holding the ball tenderly in his fingertips. "We can send you back to you're world, and-"  
  
"No."  
  
Jack looked surprised. "Wai- no?"  
  
"No," Sally spoke determinedly. "I don't want to go back. I had no life in my old world. I'd rather stay here, with the monsters, and The Mayor..."  
  
Sally looked into Jack's "eyes". "I wanna stay with you."  
  
"Oh!" Jack still looked surprised, but he was also very confused. He scratched his chin in thought. "Well, um... I don't see why, but..."  
  
And Sally reached up-  
  
And kissed him.  
  
(Fangirls are screaming right now.)  
  
As Sally pulled away, Jack stepped backwards in shock. It seemed impossible, but he looked even paler now than he did before. Sally realized something.  
  
"You... you've never been kissed before, have you?" Sally asked.  
  
"It that what that's called?" Jack asked.  
  
"Well, consider this a precious moment," Sally smiled. "Something you'll never forget."  
  
"Forget?" Jack talked to himself. "Forget. THAT'S IT!" Jack started holding the PowerSphere even tighter, and it began to glow with a yellow light. "I'll just make it so that no one ever remembers Hirac! It'll be perfect!"  
  
"That is a wonderful idea!" Sally shouted with gusto. But, then, something came to her.  
  
"Wait..." Sally's happiness began to melt away. "If we don't remember any of this happening, then we'll forget..."  
  
Sally didn't need to finish the sentence. Jack gently embraced her and stroked her hair. "I know, Sally, it'll be hard. But, if we were truly meant to be together, it won't matter. We'll still know."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Jack closed his eyes and thought to himself. "No one must ever remember any of this-"  
  
BOOM!  
  
**  
  
"AAH!" Sally screamed as she sat up in her tiny bed. "DADDY!"  
  
"What?" Dr. Finklestien rolled into Sally's room, holding a lantern above his head. "Sally, what is it?"  
  
"I had a nightmare!" Sally moaned as the Doctor patted her shoulder. "There was an evil scarecrow king, and Jack was there, and they had taken over Halloween Town, and..."  
  
"Sally, calm down," Dr. Finklestien comforted the girl. "It was just a dream. But you might as well write it down, it may mean something."  
  
"Okay," Sally hopped out of bed to reach her desk, which held his writing paper and quills.  
  
"I'm going back to bed," Dr. Finklestien mumbled. "G'night, Sally."  
  
"Don't call me 'Daddy', Sally."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Sally wrote down every detail of the dream she could remember by the moonlight seeping in through her window. Was it a dream? I mean, the PowerSphere had made everyone forget, but what if there was some kind of malfunction, and she could remember it? She wondered if Jack knew. It was nearing Halloween; she would ask him. Although he had seemed a bit distant lately.....  
  
***  
  
IT'S OVER!  
  
(Audience member: You did it!)  
  
The two bump chests.  
  
AH HA! Oo, that was fun! And I made up the ending myself! Yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah, yeah! OO, that was so much fun! You happy it's over!?  
  
(There's a mixture of "Yes"s and "No"s.)  
  
Alright! Tell me if you want a sequel! I guess, by the ending, you can tell when this story is set.  
  
(Some mumbles.)  
  
Anyone?  
  
(Audience member: Uh... before the movie?)  
  
RIGHT! You get a cookie!  
  
(Audience member: Hoorah!)  
  
Okay, I'm done, my arthritic fingers are sore, let's finish this up.  
  
DONE! 


	8. Fan Art Contest See Rules

HEY, I WANT FANART!  
  
You heard me! I wanna see some Spirited Away On Halloween fanart! In fact, I'll have a contest to see who can do the best fanart! Here's the rules:  
  
I want you (the public) to draw scenes, characters, places, and other things from "Spirited Away on Halloween". Best picture drawn will be winner.  
  
The first prize; The co-starring character in the sequel will be given your name.  
  
Second prize; Important, yet barely focused on extra will be given your name.  
  
Third prize: Your name will be mentioned somewhere, but it will not be important.  
  
Fanart cannot exceed PG ratings.  
  
Here are some of the things I'd like to see:  
  
Characters:  
  
Human Sally/Half-ragdoll Sally in her Uniform/Full ragdoll Sally in her uniform  
  
Gargoyle Jack  
  
Popsy the Witch  
  
Boiler Man Mayor  
  
King Hirac/King Hirac in Gargoyle form  
  
Aphrodite/Davina  
  
Eeoski/Gecko Eeoski  
  
Moth Zero  
  
The hands (Koit, Koit, Koit)  
  
The baby ghosts  
  
Places:  
  
The Park (First part of the story)  
  
The Cellar  
  
The Mansion (outside or inside)  
  
Hirac's office  
  
Aphrodite's cabin  
  
The Coach (I guess it can count as a place)  
  
Sally's Room at the Orphanage  
  
Scenes:  
  
Sally is Attacked by her car  
  
Meeting Jack at Moonlight Hill  
  
Meeting the Mayor in the cellar  
  
Walking through the Mansion with Popsy  
  
Asking Hirac for a job  
  
Cleaning the tub/Finding out Sally's changing  
  
Jack being attacked by paper bats  
  
Post attack*  
  
In Eeoski's room  
  
Aphrodite's introduction  
  
Falling through the Gutters  
  
Mayor giving Sally Coach Tickets  
  
Riding in the Coach  
  
Talking at Aphrodite's  
  
Flying back with Gargoyle Jack  
  
Hirac/Jack's showdown  
  
Kissing scene  
  
When you draw the fanart, post it on the internet and leave the URL in a review. NO E-MAILING ME! I hate answering e-mails. Besides, other people might wanna see the fanart too.  
  
If I recognize the work as someone else's, you're disqualified, and a character with your name will DIE in the sequel. Probably a horrific death, depending on how bad of a plagiariser you are.  
  
I will ONLY accept what is written above. If Sally is all ragdoll and in her patchwork dress, AND THAT'S IT, you're disqualified. If she's all doll, in her patchwork dress, and Hirac's torturing her like in the end of the story, that counts, and I'll think about it. Also, no picture of just ordinary Jack. Everybody's done one of those. I've done a Bunch of those, so don't even try. I'm not that stupid.  
  
Remember, no PG13's (unless its when Jack's breaking into pieces after being attacked by Aphrodite's bats; then it can be light PG13, not heavy PG13. Maybe PG12. Or PG11.)  
  
Okay, we all got that straight. Good. Now, Let's see some fanart!  
  
*You're allowed to go a bit graphic; Jack is breaking into pieces, after all. 


End file.
